Cycling, traffic safety, traffic justice, and legal topics; energy, transit and transportion economics
The driver on suspended license who hit and killed a cyclist in Phoenix while fleeing police after a domestic violence incident back in May 2024 has been sentenced to 16 years in prison after pleading guilty to 2nd Degree Murder and Hit and Run charges.
see the full story here.
11/16/2025 A bicyclist was killed when a driver ran a red light at an “activated” HAWK crossing at East Speedway Boulevard and North Richey Boulevard.
This is the only fatality I am aware of that has ever occurred at an activated HAWK crossing.
Police have already signaled there will be no serious charges (“The driver of the vehicle remained at the scene…” and “determined she was not impaired”. At the completion of TPDs investigation, it will probably be forwarded to the county attorney, who will decline charges, because that’s what they do when someone is killed by a not impaired driver. That will bring it back to the city attorney for consideration of misdemeanor (or civil charges, like just a traffic ticket). Continue reading “Bicyclist killed at Tucson HAWK crosswalk”
{UPDATE: news now (published Wed Oct 22) says Osborne near Piestewa in a marked crosswalk. Which would be probably at the canal/trail crossing, which appears to have a HAWK signal]
Today is Tuesday. In an important update to the hit and run killing Sunday afternoon (in addition to a motorcylist seriously injured in separate hit-and-run!) — how are we just now learning that the “white car” is a white Tesla. That’s a lot more specific don’t you think?
2025-10-19 ~ 3pm Osborne Rd near Piestawa Fwy bicyclist Will Castañeda killed in a marked crosswalk by a hit-and-run driver of a white Tesla. Osborne Rd runs underneath the freeway, there is no freeway access here. There are marked crosswalks both immediately east and west of the underpass, the Grand Canal Path is on the the west side and has a HAWK signal, the crosswalk on the east side is uncontrolled.
In any event BOLO white tesla w/ front damage. Here is the article published yesterday: Continue reading “Driver of Speeding White Tesla hits and kills bicyclist in Phoenix before fleeing the scene”
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I’ve had a couple of inquiries about these gizmos — the official legal term is “personal delivery device” — so I wanted to finally assemble updated (the current AZ law is from 2020) info, go here.
In brief: these are able to be fully autonomously guided (driven?), can use sidewalks and streets with certain restrictions: max speed being the most obvious.
My thought on safety is these would be a net positive in that they have very little chance of causing a serious injury to anybody, compared to a vehicle. We’ve seen first hand what gig working food deliver drivers can do. Continue reading “Doordash Dot and Polar Labs’ Personal Delivery Device”
With two dead and a dozen or more injured in a single incident, this is probably the most famous MV-bike fatal crash in Arizona, if not the entire US, history; including a full NTSB investigation.
As the county attorney refused to bring felony charges… 1 year plus some license suspension and whatnot. Full story here.
What goes around comes around? After ending all photo enforcement several years ago, the Cities of Phoenix will soon re-start and Tempe started a month ago.
And behind the scenes, the Republican controlled legislature has tried and failed year-after-year-after-year, for over a decade, to ban all photo enforcement anywhere in Arizona. Some years, the ban gets passed, and the governor (when Democrat) vetoes it. Most recently, Democrat gov Hobbs vetoed it (twice if i recall correctly). Other years, the bill dies, saving the embarrassment of having a Republican governor from vetoing it (e.g. SB1419 in 2021). Continue reading “Cities of Phoenix and Tempe re-start photo enforcement”
This is a nerdly article probably only of interest to me.
I wanted to validate the numbers posted on the main FARS page against my own copy of the FARS data to ensure I understood what counted for what. Continue reading “Checking the FARS data”
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McClintock at Watson. (Watson is just north of Guadalupe). It appears driver ran a red along McClintock while the teen cyclist was crossing in a crosswalk at Watson. https://www.azfamily.com/video/2025/02/09/teen-bicyclist-hurt-after-crash-with-alleged-red-light-runner/
Recall that Jay fretz was killed in 2010 by a red light runner along McClintock at Alameda. https://azbikelaw.org/commuter-cyclist-killed-in-tempe/
Yikes.
Suspected DUI? of course. Hit and Run? uh huh.
Arizona has tough DUI laws, right? Don’t count on it. If the driver is found to be impaired, expect nothing more than a misdemeanor DUI. Possibly misdemeanor hit-and-run (as apparently there were no injuries, unless you count the driver’s bump on the head). Prosecutors seem to have no imagination. EnDANGERment? Naw. Continue reading “Suspected DUI driver crashes into Ahwatukee home”
2025-02-02 8:17am
Prescott Valley PD posted on their facebook:
… on Sunday, February 2, 2025, at 8:17am involving a bicycle rider at the intersection of Viewpoint and Spouse Drive. The incident occurred when a male cyclist traveling north on Viewpoint did not yield to a motorist traveling east on Spouse. The cyclist was not wearing a helmet at the time of the a*******. (I censored the a-word. PVPD: please #crashnotaccident. I’m not a fan of the helmet comment, either). Continue reading “Bicyclist killed in crash at all-way stop in Prescott Valley”
A misdemeanor criminal case against the driver in this strange Oct 2024 incident is moving forward in Tempe Municipal Court…
Next Court Date: PRE-TRIAL CONFERENCE 1/22/2025 01:30
Driver arrested in the killing of PV teenager Gabriel Grande this past November. Full Story.